Live deck and loader assembly



lMarch 4, 1969 J. 5. MELLOTT Erm. Re. 26,535

LIVE DECK AND LOADEH ASSEMBLY Original Filed June 18. 1965 Sheet of 2HAYES R. HELLOTT JOHN S MELLOTT BY M lazflgkr 9 439W March 4, 1969 J 5,M oT-r ErAL Re. 26,535

LIVE DECK AND LOADER ASSEMBLY Original Filed June 18. 1965 Sheet 2 of 2INVENTORS' HAYES R. NELLOTT JOHN S. MELLOTT ATTQRNE'YS' illll-l- UnitedStates Patent 26,535 LIVE DECK AND LOADER ASSEMBLY John S. Mellott andHayes R. Mellott, both of Rte. 1, Box 97, Mercersburg, Pa. 17236Original No. 3,355,042, dated Nov. 28, 1967, Ser. No.

465,069, June 18, 1965. Application for reissue Apr. 18,

1968, Ser. No. 724,324 U.S. Cl. 214-91 Claims Int. Cl. B66b 17/14 Matterenclosed in heavy brackets [II appears in the original patent but formsno part of this reissue specification; matter printed in italicsindicates the additions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A live deck and stop and loader assembly forconveying logs to a saw mill and feeding the logs one at a time onto thecarriage of the saw mill. The stop and loader mechanism is mounted onthe main drive shaft of the live deck, and separate power drives areprovided to operate the live deck and the stop and loader mechanismsindependently of one another.

This invention relates to log handling equipment used in connection witha saw mill, and more particularly to an improved live deck and stop andloader assembly for use with a saw mill.

In the operation of a saw mill, it is common practice to maintain asupply of logs on a deck or ramp positioned on one side of the carriageof the saw mill, and to move the logs, one at a time, as needed, fromthe deck onto the carriage of the saw mill. The deck is conventionally alive deck in which a plurality of conveyor chains extend along the uppersurface of the deck to support the logs. The chains are driven to movethe logs across the upper surface of the deck to be discharged onto aninclined ramp, or skid bars, leading to the carriage of the saw mill.

A stop and loader assembly is conventionally positioned along the skidbars to prevent the logs from rolling freely from the live deck onto thesaw mill carriage, and to discharge the logs one at a time as they areneeded. Since the logs are very heavy, these conventional stop andloader assemblies necessarily must be both rugged and very securelyanchored to prevent the impact of the logs, and the driving force of thechains, from forcing the stop and loader into the saw mill, Also, theheavy logs subject to the live deck conveyor chains, and consequentlythe driving mechanism, to severe impact or shock loads.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedlive deck and stop and loader assembly for use with a saw mill.

Another object is to provide such an assembly in which all loads appliedto the stop and loader are contained with the live deck assembly.

Another object is to provide such an assembly including an improveddrive mechanism for the live deck conveyor chains.

In the attainment of the foregoing and other objects, an importantfeature of the present invention resides in rotatably mounting the stopand loader assembly on the live deck conveyor chain drive shaft. Aplurality of rocker arms are journaled for rotation about the driveshaft, with the rocker arms being rigidly joined for simultaneousrotation. A two-way fluid motor is mounted on the live deck framestructure to pivot the rocker arms about the drive shaft to alternatelyproject their respective ends above the surface of the live deck tostopmovement of a log from the live deck onto the skids or to feed anindividual log from the deck, as desired.

Reissued Mar. 4, 1969 The conveying mechanism of the live deck is drivenindependently of the stop and loader mechanism by a separate drivemechanism. This drive mechanism includes a reduction gear mounteddirectly on one end of the drive shaft for rotation about thelongitudinal axis of the shaft. A drive motor is suitably connected tothe reduction gear to permit rotation of the reduction gear withinpredetermined limits. Rotation of the reduction gear about the axis ofthe shaft is limited by elongated torque bar rigidly fixed to thehousing of the reduction gear and extending therefrom into position toengage stop members mounted on the live deck frame assembly uponrotation of the reduction gear assembly. The torque bar is dimensionedfor limited resiliently resisted deflection to act as a shock absorberfor absorbing impact loads applied to the chains of the conveyor system.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe following specifications, taken with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation view of a live deck and stop andloader assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary section view taken on line 55 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a live deck and stop and loaderassembly according to the present invention is indicated generally bythe reference numeral 1 and includes a substantially horizontal livedeck 2 and a stop and loader 3. The live deck 3 includes a logsupporting platform 4 made up of a plurality of elongated structuralbeams 5 supported in substantially parallel laterally spaced relation bya suitable frame 6-, which, in turn, is anchored to a suitablefoundation 7, illustrated in phantom in the drawings. Beams 5 are formedwith a channel 8 extending along their upper surface to guide andprovide lateral support for conveyor chains 10 disposed in and movingalong the channels, as more fully explained below. A wooden insert 11 isprovided in the bottom of channel 8 to provide a slightly resilientsupport for the chain.

A drive shaft 15 is rotatably mounted, as by bearings 16, adjacent theedge of the platform 4 for rotation about an axis spaced below the uppersurface of platform 4 and parallel to the carriage track (not shown) ofthe saw mill. An idler shaft 17 is similarly rotatably mounted, as bybearings 18, adjacent the side of platform 4 opposite shaft 15. Aplurality of pairs of sprocket Wheels 19 are mounted on shafts 15 and17, with one sprocket wheel of each pair being mounted on the respectiveshafts 15 and 17 in alignment with one of the beams 5. A conveyor chain10 is mounted on each of the pairs of sprocket Wheels for movementthereon in an endless path with the upper run of the chain beingpositioned within the channel 8 of the associated beam 5. The chains 10extend above the upper surface of the beams 5 to convey logs positionedthereon along the upper surface of platform 4.

Shaft 15 is driven by a reduction gear mechanism 20 mounted directly onand supported by one end of the shaft. Reduction gear 20 swings free onshaft 15, and is prevented from rotating about the axis of the shaft byan elongated torque bar 21 having one end rigidly supported by a frame22 which, in turn, is fixedly secured to the housing of the reductiongear 20. The other end of the torque bar 21 projects outwardly beyondthe housing of the reduction gear and is disposed between spaced stops23 on the frame 6. Stops 23 are spaced apart a distance slightly greaterthan the thickness of torque bar 21 to permit a limited amount of freerotation of gear 20. Torque bar 21 is dimensioned for limitedresiliently resisted deflection to act as a shock absorber or shockmount, to prevent damage to the gear mechanism due to impact loadingresulting from logs being moved onto the chains 10, or by logs beingstopped by the stop and loader mechanism 3 while the chains are stillmoving.

Suitable power means, such as fluid motor 25, is rigidly mounted onframe 22 for movement with reduction gear 20 about the axis of shaft 15.Motor 25 is operatively connected to reduction gear 20 by a suitablecoupling means such as the flexible coupling 26.

The stop and loader mechanism 3 is mounted on the live deck 2 so thatall loads applied to the stop and loader are contained with the deckassembly. The stop and loader includes a pair of hollow shafts 30rotatably mounted on shaft 15 between adjacent beams 5. The separateshafts 30 each have one end rotatably fixed to a bracket 32 so thatrotation of the bracket 32 imparts corresponding rotation to each of theshafts 30. A plurality of elongated rocker arms 32 are rigidly mounted,as by welding, to the shafts 30 for rotation therewith. The rocker arms31 are of conventional construction and have their concave uppersurfaces aligned along shaft 15.

A two-way hydraulic cylinder 35 has one end pivotally mounted, as bybracket 36 to one of the beams 5, and the free end of its piston rod 37pivotally mounted to bracket 32 at a point spaced below shafts 30.Application of fluid pressure to the cylinder 35 will cause movement ofpiston rod 7 to reciprocate bracket 2 to pivot rocker arms 31 about thelongitudinal axis of shaft 15. The extent of movement of piston rod 37between its fully extended and retracted position is such as to projectalternate ends of the rocker arms above the upper surface of platform 4.

As is most clearly seen in FIG. I, when the ends 38 of rocker arms 31which project outwardly from platform 4 toward the saw mill are in theraised position, they act as a positive stop for logs moving on chains10. Once a log comes into contact with the rocker arm as illustrated inphantom in FIG. 1, actuation of the fluid cylinder 35 to pivot therocker arms 31 about the longitudinal axis of shaft 15 will lower end 38of rocker arm 31 and simultaneously raise end 39 to positively feed asingle log from the live deck. At the same time, the end 39 of rockerarm 31 acts as a temporary stop to prevent additional logs from movingpast the loader.

Logs fed from the stop and loader assembly 3 roll down inclined skidbars 40 onto the carriage of a saw mill.

In operation of the live deck and stop and loader assembly of thisinvention, logs are rolled onto the live deck as, for example, from atruck, over the idler shaft 17 onto the moving conveyer chains 10. Fluidmotor 25, acting through reduction gear 20, drives shaft 15, and inturn, chains to convey the logs along the upper surface of the logsupporting platform 4 until the leading log comes into contact with therocker arms 31 of the stop and loader assembly. Further operation of themotor 25 causes the chains 10 to slide beneath the logs stopped on thelive deck.

When it is desired to feed a single log from the live deck down the skidbars 40 and onto the carriage of the saw mill, the mill operatoractuates fluid cylinder 35 to pivot the rocker arms 31 about thelongitudinal axis of shaft to positively and forcibly feel a single logfrom the deck. Additional logs are prevented from moving over thefeeding mechanism by the end 39 of the rocker arm which was raisedsimultaneously with lowering end 38 as the rocker arm was pivoted aboutshaft 15. Once the log has cleared the rocker arms 31, the fluidcylinder 35 is reversed to pivot arms 31 back into the positionillustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings to permit the next log on thechains 10 to move into position in engagement with the rocker arms to befed when needed.

By mounting the stop and loader assembly for rotation on drive shaft 15,it is possible to maintain all of the loads applied to the stop andloader assembly within the frame of the live deck assembly, therebyeliminating the necessity for a separate frame and a foundationstructure for the stop and loader assembly. Further, by mounting thestop and loader assembly directly on the drive shaft 15, setting up andinstallation of the saw mill is considerably simplified as all alignmentproblems are eliminated and the skid bars may be positioned directlyonto the live deck without interference from the stop and loaderassembly.

Since the logs handled by this apparatus are quite heavy, the apparatusis subjected to substantial shock or impact loading. For example, when alarge log is rolled onto the chains 10, as from the bed of a truck, asubstantial sudden increase in the load on the motor and reduction gearis encountered. Further, when logs supported on the chains come intocontact with the rocker arms 31, a further sudden increase in load isapplied due to the necessity of the chains sliding beneath the log.

The adverse effect of these impact loads on the motor and reduction gearmecharnism is substantially reduced by mounting the motor 25 andreduction gear 20 on the end of the shaft in the manner described. Forexample, under no load or light load conditions the weight of the motorand reduction gear mechanism is sufficient to pre vent the reductiongear from being rotated about shaft 15 by the actuation of the motor 25.However, the application of a sudden load to the chains will result in atemporary stopping of the chains 10 as the motor and reduction gearrotate about the axis of the shaft to bring the end of the torque bar'21 into contact with stop 23. Continued operation of motor 25 will beresisted by torque arm 21 so that the conveyor chain 10 will again bedriven along the upper surface of platform 4. Since torque arm 21 isdimensioned for limited resiliently resisted deflection, any adverseeffect of the arm being brought suddenly into contact With stop 3 iseliminated.

By mounting the motor and reduction gear assembly directly onto the endof drive shaft 15, any problem of alignment of the reduction gear withthe shaft or of the motor with the reduction gear is eliminated. Also,any shifting or deforming of the shaft or platform is automaticallycompensated for by the drive mechanism moving with the driven shaft.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention I wish itunderstood that I do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, butthat I do intend to cover all embodiments thereof which would beapparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit andscope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A live deck and stop and loader assembly for a saw mill comprising, alog supporting platform positioned to one side of a carriage track ofthe saw mill, a drive shaft rotatably mounted on said platformsubstantially parallel to the carriage track, said drive shaft beingpositioned below the top surface of said platform on the side thereofadjacent the carriage track, a log stop and loader journaled for limitedpivotal rotation on said drive shaft, said stop and loader including anelongated rocker arm having a concave upper surface, and power means forrotating said rocker arm for pivotal movement on said shaft toalternately elevate the respective ends thereof above said platform tofeed logs individually onto the carriage of the saw mill, [an idlershaft] chain guide means mounted at the side of said platform oppositesaid one side, a plurality of sprocket wheels mounted on said driveshaft [and on said idler shaft], a plurality of endless conveyer chainsmounted on and extending between the sprocket wheels on said drive [andidler shafts] shaft and said chain guide means with the upper portion ofsaid chains [between said shafts] extending over and supported by theupper surface of said platform, and motor means for driving said driveshaft and said conveyor chains to move logs along the upper surface ofsaid platform toward the carriage track and into engagement with saidlog stop and loader.

2. A live deck and stop and loader assembly for a saw mill comprising, alog supporting platform positioned to one side of carriage track of thesaw mill, a drive shaft rotatably mounted on said platform substantiallyparallel to the carriage track, said drive shaft being positioned belowthe top surface of said platform on the side thereof adjacent thecarriage track, a log stop and loader journaled for limited pivotalrotation on said drive shaft, said stop and loader including a pluralityof elongated rocker arms spaced along said drive shaft in rotatablyfixed relation to one another, and power means for rotating said rockerarms for pivotal movement on said shaft to alternately elevate therespective ends of said arms above said platform to intermittently feedlogs individually from said platform onto the carriage of the saw mill,[an idler shaft] chain guide means mounted at the side of said platformopposite said one side, a plurality of sprocket wheels mounted on saiddrive shaft [and said idler shaft], a plurality of endless conveyerchains mounted on and extending between the sprocket wheels on saiddrive [and idler shafts] shaft and said chain guide means with the upperportion of said chains [between said shafts] extending over andsupported by the upper surface of said platform, and means separate fromsaid power means for driving said drive shaft and said conveyer chainsto move logs along the upper surface of said platform toward thecarriage track and into engagement with said stop and loader.

3. A live deck and stop and loader assembly according to claim 2 whereinsaid means for driving said drive shaft includes a reduction gearmechanism mounted on and operatively connected to one end of said driveshaft, said reduction gear mechanism being rotatable about the axis ofsaid drive shaft, motor means for driving said reduction gear mechanismto rotate said drive shaft, and stop means for positively limiting theextent of rotation of said reduction gear mechanism about said axis.

4. A live deck and stop and loader assembly for a saw mill comprising, alog supporting platform positioned to one side of the carriage track ofthe saw mill, a drive shaft rotatably mounted on said platformsubstantially parallel to the carriage track, said drive shaft beingpositioned below the top surface of said platform on the side thereofadjacent the carriage track, a log stop and loader journaled forrotation on said drive shaft, said stop and loader including a pluralityof elongated rocker arms spaced along said drive shaft in rotatablyfixed relation to one another, and power means for rotating said rockerarms for pivotal movement on said shaft to alternately elevate the endsof said arms above said platform to intermittently feed logsindividually from said platform onto the carriage of the saw mill, [anidler shafts] chain guide means mounted at the side of said platformopposite said one side, a plurality of sprocket wheels mounted on saiddrive shaft [and said idler shaft], a plurality of endless conveyerchains mounted on and extending between the sprocket wheels on saiddrive [and idler shafts] shaft and said chain guide means with the upperportion of said chains [between said shafts] extending over andsupported by the upper surface of said platform, drive means separatefrom said power means for driving said drive shaft and said conveyerchains to move logs along the upper surface of said platform toward thecarriage track and into engagement with said stop and loader, said drivemeans including a reduction gear mechanism mounted on and operativelyconnected to one end of said drive shaft, said reduction gear mechanismbeing rotatable about the axis of said drive shaft, motor means fordriving said reduction gear mechanism, and means including a torque barextending between said reduction gear mechanism and said platform forlimiting the extent of rotation of said reduction gear mechanism aboutsaid axis, said torque bar being dimensioned for limited resilientlyresisted deflection to reduce the adverse effect of shock loads on saidreduction gear mechanism.

5. A live deck and stop and loader assembly according [of] to claim 4wherein said motor means is mounted on said reduction gear mechanism forrotation therewith about the axis of said drive shaft.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,741,951 12/1929 Pelton 143-96 X 2,396,255 3/1946Edwards et al 143-92 X 2,484,362 10/1949 Weber 14395 X 2,666,462 1/1954Richardson 14396 3,080,042 3/1963 Sherman l9834 3,308,968 3/1967Harrington 19834 ALBERT I. MAKAY, Primary Examiner.

